Many students that do not live in Wageningen have probably had this thought before: Where are the night busses? There is only one night bus that arrives in Wageningen, the one coming from Arnhem which drives through the night of Saturday to Sunday. However, nothing leavesfrom Wageningen. The last bus leaves at 00:50AM to Ede. Then, until 05:27 AM there is no other bus leaving from Wageningen. This means that every time you want to go out in the evening you have to either bike, leave early to go home, or stay until very late. If you’re lucky, you can stay the night at a friend’s place.
Biking is not the biggest issue. Usually you bike with a group of friends to the event. But going back home, most of the people have to cycle back by themselves, where many are hesitant to cycle through meadows and forests in the middle of the night. This is very understandable. Besides, if you want to go out in Arnhem, it is easily 18-20km cycling which is too far for most youths and students.
When you are forced to go home early because of concerns how you will otherwise get home, you often miss out on most of the party. Especially at open parties, which often start late in the evening, you have to go home when the fun is just about to start. Staying out until 05:27 is for some an option but many call it a night at around 3 or 4am. The last option is crashing over at a friend’s place, but not everyone has an extra bed laying around. Besides, asking friends every week to sleep over is also not ideal.
Students and youth in Wageningen are not the only ones facing this issue. On Saturdays, people living in Wageningen and going out in Arnhem can get home, but getting home to Veenendaal or Utrecht becomes more difficult.
Wageningen is not famous for their nightlife for youth, so they go to other cities. It is then the responsibility to make sure these people get home safe at more reasonable times. Therefore, we would like to see night busses leaving and arriving in Wageningen. It is more than just a party here and there, it concerns the student life that all students and young people should be able to enjoy by socialising and meeting new people. The safety of this target group is therefore important. In fact, it will also help parents, who can sleep without worrying if their son or daughter cycles into ditch.